[Official]: 30 Days of Facing Your Fears Challenge

Rules: Each day you must do one of the following (not all three) :
– Something you fear
– Something you’ve been putting off
– Something you’ve never done before

We’ll use this thread as a record for what you do each day. That will end up serving as a giant repository of options for other people looking for inspiration on what to do each day.

I started doing this 6 days ago and it’s been the most enlivening experiment I’ve ever tried.

Format:Day 1: Put out a call for HighExistence Interns
Of course feel free to share any thoughts about your experience that day

My last 7 days:

Day 1: Something illegal (that wasn’t the goal, I’m just not being specific haha)
Day 2: Interview on live radio
Day 3: 25C-NBOME (new and not well tested designer drug that allowed for insanely vivid past-life regression through eye gazing)
4) Pitched a guest post to TechCrunch.com (huge tech blog) about the futurism of 3-D printing
5) Finished that illegal activity
6) Datura (crazy psychedelic, do your research before touching this one)
7) Put out a request for HE interns

Fears could be anything: public speaking, being completely honest with someone about something, bungie jumping, having a vulnerable conversation, meditating for an exorbitant amount of time, forcing yourself to love people you’ve had trouble loving in the past, etc.

Day 1: Started a mammoth art project I’ve been visualizing. It took a huge chunk of the day and made a dense mess, but it is well worth it. However that’s the easy stuff off the ole’ avoidance list. God help me conquer the things I don’t enjoy…

Days 5&6: continuing clearing out 15 years of stuff from my house. Most of it is obsolete, broken. Things I just don’t use anymore are going to salvation army. Some petite size 6 women is going to be happy.

I’m not usually stopped by fear. I feel it though. Mind spinning… breath shortened..heightened anxiety. My horse, Maxwell, had a swollen watering eye lid. Putting drops into your own eye is hard. The body’s instinct is to pull away. Imagine if the body is 1500 lbs and the being doesnt understand english. He let me take care of him. Why am I always surprised by that? My fear subsided as I investigated further by shining a flash light into his eye and lifted the eye lid. No scratches or damage. Swelling is down and almost gone this morning. Probably a spider bite or a dust speck. He needs his eyes to survive. I’m so relieved it wasn’t serious. I love my boy Maxwell and apparently he loves me too.

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Jay(52)A musician, a music lover, an artist, a cr...(@punker96)4 years, 7 months ago ago

Day 9: Finished Christmas shopping. Very last minute, but it’s finally done!

Jay(52)A musician, a music lover, an artist, a cr...(@punker96)4 years, 7 months ago ago

Day 10: Went snowboarding in the mountains for the first time.

Day 11: Learned to carve on a snowboard.

I’m new to snowboarding. This trip to the mountains was only my 3rd time on a board and I have to say, at first, I was dreading it. I never used to like snowboarding, almost hated it in fact. The two times that I had went out last year were frustrating and difficult. Nothing but falling down and coming out sore, without any sense of accomplishment whatsoever. It honestly felt like it just wasn’t for me.

Stepping out of my comfort zone this year and going out to the mountains to try, at least one more time before giving up entirely, turned my viewpoint on the sport, and even some aspects of my life, right around. I can’t explain how incredible it felt to be up there. The fresh air, the way you would see the sun rising over the mountain top as you ride up a chairlift, the peace and quiet, it was beautiful.

The first day was definitely a bit frustrating, I will admit, but I just kept pushing, kept falling and kept getting right back up. By the time day two had hit I was already learning how to successfully carve on a board, something I’m told takes a lot of time and practice! But there I was, and I’ve never felt better.

Starting this challenge, I have to admit, the first nine days felt good, but never great. A lot of my first tasks were centered around breaking procrastination and getting things done that were piling up, but it wasn’t until I took on a challenge that forced me to step out of my comfort zone and go snowboarding on a mountain, even though I was dreading the experience initially, changed me. I see the value of this 30 day challenge in a whole new light. The happiness and fulfillment I was looking for was up there on that mountain, outside of my comfort zone, learning and experiencing something I probably never would have before.

If there’s one thing you can do during this challenge, I highly recommend doing something that doesn’t come natural, that does not feel comfortable in any way. Just go out it and do it, and you will understand what I am saying. It’s going to be hard and you’re not going to want to do it at first. If you have to, do what I did and find yourself someone, anyone who you can ask to keep you from turning back, to give you that push when you start to feel uncomfortable. Just do it. Live and learn from the experience to come.

After what I experienced up there, I can honestly say I will never forget how good that felt, flying down a run on my own for the first time, in control. I’m without a doubt, a snowboarder now. I will never give that up. I’m from western Canada, and I understand now why so many people here are in love with this sport. It’s so much more than that.

The greatest part about all of this is that the lessons I have learned from this experience are going to carry over into other aspects of my life where I feel like it’s time to step out of the comfort zone. That is perhaps the greatest reward of all. I’ve grown, and I owe it not only to those in my life who have supported and inspired me, but also this challenge as well. Thank you.

@phanci3 thank you for the kind words. I’m ok. Just going through something. I should have planned more social breaks instead of spending so many days alone with sad memories. I’m going to visit my niece and her kids today.

Day 1(which just ended): – watch my old schools summer musical “children of eden” which for a highschool they did really well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxVUwRf82TY
– shower
– finish writing a means to an end letter to someone i love so i can finally move on
all while staying in my room all day.